Monthly Archive for September 2009
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September 30, 2009
links for 2009-09-30
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The State Indicator Report on Fruits and Vegetables, 2009 released includes information, policy, and behavioral indicators of fruit and vegetable consumption.
Posted by: Staff on September 30, 2009
Category: Lunch Break Reading
September 29, 2009
links for 2009-09-29
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A new study finds that diabetes significantly increases a woman’s risk of developing atrial fibrillation, a common and potentially dangerous irregular heart rhythm that doctors often miss.
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Prostate cancer patients of low socioeconomic status are more likely to die than patients with higher incomes. That is the finding of a new study from Swiss researchers to be published in the December 1, 2009 issue of Cancer.
Posted by: Staff on September 29, 2009
Category: Lunch Break Reading
September 28, 2009
Dialysis Patients Often Not Told About Transplant Options
Are people told about the full range of options when they begin dialysis? Information detailed in the Sunday edition of the Pittsburgh Tribune Review suggests that they are not. Kidney transplants can add years to a patient's life, and is overall, a much cheaper procedure than long-term dialysis care. Some key factors are fear, education of kidney disease and options, organ "availability" and the insurance associated with care.
The Tribune conducted its own four month investigation and found:
More than 32,000 of the 105,653 people who started treatment for kidney failure in 2006 were not informed about the option of kidney transplantation, according to the latest available information reported to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.
The article also spoke with some dialysis providers who dispute the claim that they don't provide information on transplants to enough of their patients.
Read the story on the Pittsburgh Tribune website.
Posted by: Staff on September 28, 2009
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September 24, 2009
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"While we often hear media reports of genes that account for race differences in health outcomes, genes are but one of many factors that lead to the major health conditions that account for most deaths in the United States," said Thomas LaVeist, PhD, director of the Hopkins Center for Health Disparities Solutions and lead author of the study.
Posted by: Staff on September 24, 2009
Category: Lunch Break Reading
September 19, 2009
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"Racial health disparities cost the United States $229 billion between 2003 and 2006 — money that could help cover an overhaul of the nation's health care system, according to a new report by Johns Hopkins and University of Maryland researchers," The Baltimore Sun reports.
Posted by: Staff on September 19, 2009
Category: Lunch Break Reading
September 17, 2009
Center for Reducing Health Disparities, Kidney Foundation of Ohio, and City Fresh
The Case Center for Reducing Health Disparities is partnering with the Kidney Foundation of Ohio, Inc. (KFO) to provide information to City Fresh customers about kidney health, health disparities and nutrition. City Fresh is a program of the New Agrarian Center. The goal is to build a more just and sustainable local food system in Northeast Ohio.
City Fresh seeks to meet the needs of both urban and rural communities by improving access to fresh locally grown food for urban residents and marketing opportunities in the city for local farmers.
The City Fresh program impacts the local food system through the development of neighorhood food centers, nutrition education, urban market garden training, and the cultivation of direct farm to business connections.
City Fresh includes a wide range of community partners, including the City of Cleveland Health Department, Heifer International, Ohio Farmers Union, the Great Lakes Brewing Company, the Clark-Metro Community Development Corporation, the Urban Community School, and the Cuyahoga County Planning Commission.
City Fresh has “Fresh Stops”, which offer a way for neighbors to easily connect with food that is locally grown by farmers within the City and in the countryside. There are 8 Fresh Stop locations within Cuyahoga County including stops in Cleveland Heights, Beachwood, Buckeye Neighborhood, East Cleveland, Kamms Corners, Lakewood, Trinity Commons, and at the Urban Community School on Lorain Road. Staff from the Case Center for Reducing Health Disparities will be going to various locations over the next few weeks including Urban Community School (September 17), Buckeye – E. 118 and Buckeye (September 22), and East Cleveland – Huron Hospital (September 29).
For more about City Fresh, visit www.cityfresh.org.
Posted by: Staff on September 17, 2009
Category:
links for 2009-09-17
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The Alabama Department of Public Health announces a decline in Alabama's infant mortality rate in 2008, with a rate of 9.5 deaths per 1,000 live births and a total of 612 infant deaths. In 2007 Alabama's infant mortality rate was 10.0.
Posted by: Staff on September 17, 2009
Category: Lunch Break Reading
September 16, 2009
links for 2009-09-16
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"Ultimately, the research -- and the comments -- reiterate the fact that we should be careful with our assumptions. Broadly extrapolating results of studies done in men to women, perhaps especially when it comes to heart disease, is risky."
Posted by: Staff on September 16, 2009
Category: Lunch Break Reading
Black Patients Experience Worse In-hospital Cardiac Care, Lower Chances Of Survival
Medical News Today hightlights a new study published in the September 16th issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association. This study points to significant disparities in the rates of successful resuscitation for black patients, making them less likely to survive an in-hospital cardiac arrest compared to white patients.
Lead author Paul S. Chan, M.D., MSc., cardiologist at St. Luke's Mid-America Heart Institute points to a a 12 percent lower overall rate of surviving a cardiac arrest for black patients. The reason for the lower survival rate points to the quality of the hospitals.
"The differences in survival by race actually appeared to have more to do with the hospitals than the patients themselves. Potential racial differences in access to care or preferences have been used to explain disparities in treatments and patient outcomes. But these are not likely to influence treatment in cardiac arrests since patients were already in the hospital and care of these patients is pretty clear" states Chan.
Read more of the post on Medical News Today, or take a look at the article in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
Posted by: Staff on September 16, 2009
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September 14, 2009
links for 2009-09-14
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The Joint Center's Health Policy Institute will unveil a study that estimates the direct medical costs of racial inequalities in health status and access to quality care. Findings will include specific estimates on the combined costs of health disparities for minorities over a three-year period (2003-2006), as well as estimates of how much in direct and indirect costs could have been saved in our health care system during that same period if those disparities for minorities had been eliminated.
WHEN: Thursday, September 17, 2009
8:00 a.m. - 10:00 a.m.The briefing will be available online. To view the live Webcast (8:15 a.m.), visit www.jointcenter.org/hpi
Posted by: Staff on September 14, 2009
Category: Lunch Break Reading
September 11, 2009
links for 2009-09-11
Posted by: Staff on September 11, 2009
Category: Lunch Break Reading
September 10, 2009
links for 2009-09-10
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At a company event yesterday Apple announced a new iPod nano that has a pedometer. The step counts and estimated calories burned data collected by the iPod nano can be sent to the user’s Nike+ iPod account for tracking.
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Rising obesity rates across the nation have led to worsening health outcomes and increasing inequities in health (1) -72 million American adults are now considered to be overweight or obese.(2) Additionally, economists have identified obesity as a major driver of health care utilization and spending, and contributor to escalating health care costs. In fact, a recent study published in the journal, Health Affairs found that obesity accounts for 9.1 percent of annual health care spending in the United States, nearly $150 billion dollars a year.(3)
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The research is aiming to promote better understanding about lesbian and bisexual women's experiences of breast cancer and the findings will inform policy development.
Recommendations will also be made to cancer organisations and other facilities to help improve services.
The number of children dying before their fifth birthdays each year has fallen below nine million for the first time on record, a significant milestone in the global effort to improve children’s chances of survival, particularly in the developing world, according to data that Unicef will release on Thursday.
Posted by: Staff on September 10, 2009
Category: Lunch Break Reading
September 09, 2009
Race is a factor in the severity of lupus
Recognizing the early symptoms of lupus and referring to specialists can reduce setbacks in adequate treatment options. Graciela Alarcón, M.D., a professor of epidemiology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham explains.
Rheumatologists are aware of the differences in severity and outcome of lupus among patients of different racial groups," said Graciela Alarcón, M.D., a professor of epidemiology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. However, she said that these differences are not common knowledge among "general practitioners who are the ones more likely to encounter patients at disease onset when disease manifestations may not be so obvious.
For more information, check out the Medical News Today newsclip regarding the study.
Posted by: Staff on September 09, 2009
Category:
September 08, 2009
links for 2009-09-08
Posted by: Staff on September 08, 2009
Category: Lunch Break Reading
September 02, 2009
links for 2009-09-02
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In a recent survey by the University of Michigan C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital, only one-third of parents gave their children’s public schools an “A” grade for offering healthy food choices, according to AnnArbor.com.
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Recognizing that local government officials are eager to address the childhood obesity epidemic, The Institute of Medicine (IOM) produced Local Government Action to Prevent Childhood Obesity, a report that serves as a practical guide for government officials at the city, town, township or county level who want to take action to address healthy eating and active living.
Posted by: Staff on September 02, 2009
Category: Lunch Break Reading